Vodafone launches 4G service in Mumbai

Vodafone on Wednesday launched its high-speed 4G service in select pockets of the city and said the remaining areas will be covered by March-end. Vodafone, the largest telecom operator in the megapolis with over 33 percent market share in terms of customers, said it will charge only 3G rates for the time being. The operator also said it will offer free upgrades to 4G and extra data for Vodafone Red customers for a month.

The company's Managing Director and Chief Executive Sunil Sood, however, admitted that faster adoption will take time as only 15 percent of its close to 9 million customers here have 4G-enabled handsets. The focus will be on selling bundled services to push upgrades, he added. Sood said that only 1 percent of the close to a billion mobile handsets in use across the country have LTE or 4G compatible handsets.

Around 30 percent of active mobile users have no data-compatible handsets at all, he said. Only 4 percent of Vodafone's close to 190 million customers have 4G handsets. Sood refused to offer a revenue or customer base target for the new service, saying the targets are internal.

He also said the high-speed 4G services will currently be available only in prominent business and residential corridors along the western and southern parts of the megapolis. The complete coverage of the region, including eastern suburbs and New Mumbai licence areas, will be completed by the end of March. With the Mumbai launch, Vodafone, which has 4G bandwidth in five circles, completes the first phase of its 4G rollout.